THE Israeli Government sealed off the Gaza settlements to outsiders yesterday in a sudden move to keep out Jewish activists intent on derailing the pullout next month.

The lockout – the beginning of the end for the Gaza settlements – caught Jewish settlers opposed to Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan off guard. It sparked bitter exchanges at the checkpoint guarding the sole road into the main bloc of Jewish homes.

Settlers’ leaders who gathered in Jerusalem to announce plans for a massive protest march to the Gush Katif settlements said that the restrictions were immoral and undemocratic and urged demonstrators to go there in the coming days.

The Yesha Council, representing settlers in Gaza and the West Bank, issued a statement decrying “the first time in history that a Jewish prime minister blockades Jewish communities and declares a part of Israel Jews-free”. It added: “This is yet another achievement on the Prime Minister’s part in tearing the nation apart and trampling over the values of democracy and Zionism.”

The closure came after the bombing by Islamic Jihad of a shopping mall in Netanya, where the death toll rose to four yesterday. Israeli troops raided the Palestinian town of Tulkarem, near the suicide bomber’s home village, arresting five Islamic Jihad militants. Two Israeli soldiers were wounded in the operation.

The lockout took settlers by surprise. It reflects the Israeli leadership’s determination to keep on track the withdrawal from 21 settlements in the Gaza strip and four in the West Bank.

The order signed by Mr Sharon yesterday will require Gaza’s 9,000 settlers to apply for permits to move in and out of the area from August 15, when their presence will be deemed illegal. They will then be given 48 hours to leave voluntarily. The order also gives the army the power to seal the West Bank settlements at will.

But in Shirat Hyam settlement in Gaza yesterday, 16 large tents were put up, with lavatories and a mess tent, for the religious settlers who have already descended to fight the pullout. The settlement is close to the abandoned Palm Beach Hotel, which was cleared of more than 150 settler squatters almost two weeks ago.

Within minutes of the closure declaration, scores of young settlers flocked to Kissufim Crossing, a military checkpoint guarding access to Gush Katif, trying to beat the ban.

The scene became chaotic as busloads of police and soldiers blocked the path of the activists, some Orthodox religious Jews clad in black, others Kach Movement followers of Meir Kahane, the radical rabbi.

“How can it be that Jews are not allowed to enter here? This in a Jewish-Israel state,” Jonathan Rahamim, 21, a Kach activist from the Kochav Hashchar West Bank settlement, said. “The Bible clearly states we can live here. It’s our land. Period.”

Around him, teenage settlers in orange T-shirts, orange ribbons fluttering from mobile phones, were similarly stunned by the Government blockade 35 days before the pullout.

A weeping Avital Cohen, 19, from Neve Dekalim settlement, spluttered: “It’s outrageous to close Gush Katif without letting us know in advance. What have we got now? A ghetto. If Ariel Sharon thinks he’ll scare us off, he’s wrong.”

But the Israeli troops, who had been making preparations for weeks, bulldozing makeshift roads in the sandy earth, were equally resolute that Mr Sharon’s plan would proceed unhindered. Tanks on flatbed trucks rolled into the settlements.

Inside Gush Katif some residents acknowledged that the move marked the beginning of the end. “It makes us feel a little more isolated,” one woman resident said. “It’s really coming now. We knew it would, but not when.”

The Yesha Council is organising a 25km (16 miles) march on Monday, two days before a Cabinet debate tabled by government rebels to stall the pullout.

Settlers’ leaders who have proved adept at mobilising support predict that there will be hundreds of thousands of protesters, although they are determined that there will be no violence or confrontation with soldiers.

“We’re going to bring the masses and stand up and be counted so that our political leadership is forced to take notice,” Bentzi Lieberman, the Yesha Council chairman, said. “We’ll change public opinion by bringing hundreds of thousands of people, inside Gush Katif or standing outside.”

SPOILS OF WAR

1967 Israel seizes Gaza from Egypt in Six Day War

1994 Yassir Arafat returns to Gaza as Palestinian leader after Israel and PLO agree Israeli military withdrawal

1995 Interim agreement establishes Palestinian police force

January 2005 Israel seals off Gaza after Palestinian bombers kill Israelis at border crossing

July 13 Israel seals off Gaza to keep out Jewish activists as pullout looms

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